Fuel slosh occurs when a vehicle with a fully or partially filled fuel tank accelerates, decelerates or executes a sharp turn. In response, liquid waves develop and collide and splash on the tank surface causing vibrations to develop in the fuel tank. Such vibrations generate air borne and structure based noises that are audible to a vehicle passenger. Slosh noise is particularly problematic for hybrid and start-stop vehicles since periods exist in the drive cycle where background engine noise is absent.
Previous attempts to alleviate slosh noise within the fuel tank have several shortcomings and may actually contribute to the noise perceived by a vehicle operator in some instances. For example, KR1020090047108 discloses a baffle plate for a fuel tank with a spring assembly that is hinged at the top and tilts under a sloshing effect. However, numerous problems arise from the baffle described. Namely, because a fuel tank vibrates due to road conditions during normal driving, the presence of a baffle, hinge, and spring assembly may cause interaction between the movable parts and additional noise. Moving parts inside the fuel tank are thus undesirable since these parts can interact with one another and amplify the noise present. Further, if the interacting parts have a natural frequency that matches one or more of the road load vibrations or sloshing effects, a resonance condition can develop that leads to a structural failure of the moving parts and/or baffle, which can be addressed at an additional cost to the vehicle owner.
The inventors have recognized issues with such approaches and herein disclose a fuel tank comprising a slatted baffle integrally formed with a louver plate. The inventors have further recognized that the louvered plates may be configured to alter a direction of the fuel flow within the fuel tank to counteract wave collisions leading to fuel slosh. In one example, the direction of fuel flow through the slatted baffle is diverted toward the bottom of the fuel tank to reduce air entrainment in the liquid. In another example, the louvered plates act cooperatively to divert the fuel flow to the tank bottom while smoothly merging the transient flow across the baffle with a surface flow in order to reduce a wave impact and/or other turbulence that may develop when a vehicle is in motion. For instance, each angled louver plate may have a different fixed inclination angle relative to the plane of the baffle while cooperatively directing the fuel flow toward the tank bottom while smoothly merging a plurality of fuel flows present. One advantage of the slatted baffle described is that turbulence within the tank may be reduced. In this way, the technical result is achieved that the noise emanating from the fuel tank, referred to as fuel slosh, is reduced, which creates a more pleasing driving experience.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.